Sanchez's Shoulder Adds Injury To Loss

Oft-injured Pitcher Had Surgery In 2007

Team Slump Deepens

MIAMI GARDENS — It was "Weather Day" Thursday at Dolphin Stadium, with 8,000 middle-schoolers learning about lightning, thunderstorms, tornadoes and other calamities.

The crowd of kids then witnessed another disaster, as the Marlins not only lost to the Braves 4-2, but probably lost starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez to an injury.

Sanchez had just thrown his 71st pitch, a slider for a strike in the fifth inning, when he grimaced and walked away from the mound.

Catcher Ronny Paulino immediately trotted to the mound, where he met a trainer and manager Fredi Gonzalez. It was quickly determined Sanchez was done due to pain in his surgically repaired right shoulder.

How long is the question.

"Any time a pitcher comes out and says their shoulder hurts, you always think worst-case scenario," Gonzalez said. "Maybe it is as simple as some scar tissue breaking up. We can't assume anything."

Sanchez was sent to orthopedic surgeon James Andrews for a battery of tests.

Andrews performed surgery on the same shoulder on June 21, 2007. That was the second surgery for Sanchez, who underwent elbow reconstruction in 2003.

It was an unsettling sight for Sanchez's teammates.

"Everybody feels bad for him," said shortstop Hanley Ramirez, who visited Sanchez in the clubhouse after the pitcher left the game.

Ramirez and Sanchez started their professional careers in 2001 in the Red Sox organization.

"We have been together for nine years; we are like brothers. He was really down. It has been tough," Ramirez said.

The possible loss of Sanchez comes at a particularly bad time, as the Marlins have gone 4-13 following their 11-1 start.

Sanchez took the loss to fall to 1-4, and that extended the Marlins' streak of games without a win by a starter to 20.

The students also got a lesson in offensive futility, as Braves starter Jair Jurrjens held the Marlins to three hits in seven innings. His only two mistakes were sent into the seats by Ramirez.

Dan Uggla came into the game hitting .198, and after going 0 for 4, heads to Colorado hitting .190. Cameron Maybin's average dropped from .210 to .202 after he also went hitless.